


Waking Up As a Hero

by SCLawrence



Series: The Rise of Superwoman [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Smut, Maybe a little angst, Mostly Fluff, SuperCorp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-13 06:38:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21239807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SCLawrence/pseuds/SCLawrence
Summary: Lena Luthor learns the truth about Kara Danvers' identity as Supergirl when they swap bodies thanks to an alien device.





	1. A Date Like No Other

At the heart of L-Corp, in the middle of the private lab she shared only with Supergirl, there was an alien device unlike any she had seen before. It was a floating purple cylinder with hieroglyphs in a language she could not read. As it happened, no one else appeared to be able to read them either, and no matter how many tests the DEO had run on it before Supergirl had entrusted it to Lena to research, they hadn’t been able to determine either its age or its origin. 

She looked at the device, pursing her lips. Perhaps its creators had built the device with the sole purpose of trying to frustrate anyone who came about and tried to make sense of it. That would almost make sense at this point giving how frustrated she was becoming with it. All she had been able to determine so far was that the device, despite floating, emitted no radiation signature or energy pattern. At least, none that her instruments were able to detect. 

The DEO had eventually judged that it wasn’t dangerous, and so it had made its way to her lab. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, a reminder that she had a date that evening with Kara Danvers, her best friend recently turned girlfriend. The last few weeks had been magical, Lena had barely been able to stop smiling. They’d gone to art galleries and movies and restaurants. She had paid for it all too, despite Kara’s objections. 

Jack had been pleasant enough in his own way but she had never felt quite right with him and James, well, that had been a disaster born from her desperation for any kind of affection wherever she could get it. Kara, though, she was a dream and Lena just felt happy whenever they were together. Even now she smiling at the mere thought that she would soon be sitting down across from her date and talking about her day. 

She took one last look at the device and reached out towards it, vowing as she did so that one way or another, she would unlock its secrets. As her hand stretched towards it, there was a spark, and she winced, drawing her hand back and shaking it to try to dull the pain. But that was it, that one single spark, nothing followed it. Her readings still recorded no energy or radiation of any kind. 

Whatever it was, the mystery could wait until the morning. 

Lena left the lab and locked up for the night before being driven home to her penthouse. She must have tried on a dozen dresses and suits before picking a sleek black number. It had been tailor-made for her in Milan with the intention to impress. When she walked into a room wearing this suit, she commanded attention. She hoped it would work on Kara. 

Even after their months of dating, she was still nervous before seeing her girlfriend. Every time she had to fight down her anxiety and convince herself that Kara really did like her and really did enjoy spending them with here. “You can do this, Lena,” she told herself, taking a deep breath before she headed to the restaurant. 

It was expensive, but that hardly mattered, and the waiting listing was months’ long but that didn’t matter either. Not when your last name was ‘Luthor’. Whatever else she had to say about her family, the name certainly opened doors when she needed it to. She poured over the wine list, choosing a bottle from a vineyard she owned in the south of France, having bought it after Kara had expressed a liking for the vintage. 

And as she made a show of sampling it, the blonde reporter herself walked in. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress that exposed her arms and those wonderfully sculpted biceps… Realizing she needed to control herself lest she descend into gay panic, Lena rose from the table and pulled Kara into a hug. “You look amazing but you must be freezing, it’s so cold outside, Kara.” 

“Oh, it’s all right, Lena, I came straight here from the office,” Kara smiled as she returned the hug and the two held it for a long moment before settling into their seats, "but look at you, that suit is amazing." Kara's head tilted downwards as it so often did when they were together, was her girlfriend checking out her boobs? As they browsed the menu, they talked, Kara could’ve read the phone book to her and Lena would have found it fascinating, but hearing about the minutiae of her girlfriend’s day never ceased to please her. The time between ordering their meals and eating melting away as they laughed and discussed everything. She had never found anyone who cared so much about her day as Kara did and the blonde was an amazing listener.

And then it was time to go home. They usually returned to their own apartments, Kara always politely declining her offers to drop her off first, but tonight she looked at her date in her beautiful blue dress and thought about her empty apartment. She didn’t want to spend the night alone again. “Kara, would you mind coming home with me tonight? We don’t have to do anything, I mean, just, you know… spend the night together?” she babbled slightly. 

To her credit, Kara didn’t laugh but she did have a beautiful smile on her lips as she leaned over and kissed Lena, “I would love that. I was hoping you’d ask.” 

She had been hoping? For how long? Oh dear, Lena wasn’t very good at this and she knew it. After paying for their meal, she took Kara’s hand and they were driven back to her place. As soon as they stepped out of her private elevator on the penthouse floor, Kara pulled her into another kiss, this one was deeper and more passionate than earlier and maybe it was the wine speaking but she felt a flush in her cheeks. She wanted more. 

They moved through the penthouse, practically ripping each other’s expensive clothes off as they made it to the bedroom and Kara pushed her down on the bed, a finger to her bed. “You have to be the boss every day at L-Corp, but tonight, you’re mine.”

“Yes, daddy,” she breathed as Kara withdrew her finger and her blush grew even deeper but Kara only laughed. 

“I like that, pet,” the blonde pulled down Lena’s panties and planted kisses along her inner thighs and then her core, teasing her. It had been years since she’d had sex and never with a woman but as Kara’s tongue swirled around her already wet pussy, she knew with absolute certainty now that she was a card-carrying lesbian. 

A card-carrying lesbian who was grateful her penthouse was soundproofed because the moans she made when Kara hit her g-spot were surely enough to wake the dead. And her fingers, Kara’s magical fingers as they rubbed her swollen clit, making her feel sensations she had never known before. She gripped the bed sheets, tearing them, but not caring as she arched back against the bed and came. “Kara!” she screamed as she reached her climax, feeling drained but elated at the same time. 

The blonde pulled away, licking her lips and moved up the bed, planting yet more kisses on her skin until they met once more at the mouth. “I love you, Lena Luthor.”  
“I love you, Kara Danvers,” she panted, holding Kara close as they settled down beside each other and Kara pulled the duvet up over them. 

Kara was always so warm and what was more, she made Lena feel safe and loved like no one else ever had. As she burrowed into Kara’s side, her head resting on her girlfriend’s chest, she fell asleep with a smile on her face. Since she had started dating Kara, her nightmares had almost entirely subsided that night, she had none at all. 

When her eyes opened the next morning, something seemed… off. She was on the wrong side of the bed, for a start and everything was so bright and much too loud. It was almost overwhelming. The bed creaked as she moved and sat up and saw not her own face looking back at her in the mirror, but Kara’s. Lena’s eyes went wide and she looked down to see her own body still sleeping next to her. 

Was this a dream? It had to be, didn’t it? Lena just needed to splash some water on her face, that would do it. She stood up and pushed herself off the bed but instead of her feet making contact with the floorboards, she floated. 

Lena was in Kara’s body and she was floating. 

Kara Danvers, her girlfriend, was Supergirl.


	2. So That's What the Glasses Are For

“You lied to me!” Lena snarled, she had woken Kara after her feet had finally made contact with the ground, cracking the floorboard and going straight through it. “You lied to me from the very beginning. You went on dates with me, you had sex with me! When were you going to tell me the truth? When we got married? When we had a dog and three kids? When we got a call from little Lorelai Luthor-Danvers’ teacher because she started floating during gym class?” She may have thought about their future together. A lot.

“Lena, I’m sorry!” Kara replied, tears streaking down her face. It was strange to see her own body emote like this, as only Kara could and she knew how threatening she must now seem. A Luthor with the powers of a god.

“I’m confused, I’m angry, and I have superpowers,” Lena told her, deathly quiet, “so I would think very carefully about what you’re going to say next.”

Kara fidgeted with her hands nervously, only slowly looking into Lena’s (which was to say her own) eyes. “I wanted to tell you, I wanted to tell you from the start, but you… you liked me as Kara, just Kara, and I thought I could be vulnerable around you. I didn’t have to be Supergirl. I could just be your friend, your girlfriend. I was selfish and the longer I went without telling you, the harder it was. You mean more to me than I can ever say, Lena,” she said and Lena could hear Kara’s heart beating rapidly in her chest, “and if I lost you, it would be like losing Krypton all over again. You’re my home, Lena, my whole heart and when I’m with you, the pain goes away. I didn’t want that to end.”

Lena took a deep breath and sat down on the bed, which groaned underneath her. “I need something to block out the noise. It’s too much.”

“My glasses, they’re lead lined, they’ll help.”

She reached out to the bedside locker and picked up Kara’s glasses, which promptly broke between her fingers. Lena slammed them across the room, burying them in the wall, which cracked. “Don’t touch me,” she warned as Kara moved towards her, “not now. I just need a moment.”

Lena was furious with her girlfriend, more furious than she had ever been but she didn’t want to hurt Kara despite everything she had done and until and unless she figured out how to control these powers or got back to her own body, she didn’t want to risk touching anyone in case she injured them or worse.

Looking at her girlfriend, she took a deep breath. “There’s a lot I want to say to you, things I know I’d regret, so I won’t,” she continued, trying to stay calm, “I assume this was all caused by the device you gave me to study… I didn’t mention it last night but before I left the lab, it shocked me. I didn’t think much of it because there was no energy signature or radiation readings and I was in a hurry to meet you.”

“Right, you can call your driver and we’ll go straight to the lab!”

“He’s your driver now, Kara, you’re in my body. You’ll need to speak to him. I’d fly you but…” she didn’t want to drop her girlfriend hundreds of feet about the city and there were a lot of very breakable buildings between her penthouse and L-Corp.

“Oh, right, yes,” Kara gulped a little and picked up Lena’s phone, speaking to her driver Pete for a few moments. The call wasn’t on loudspeaker but still, Lena could hear every word. “Pete will be here in five minutes.”

“Yes, I know,” Lena told her, with just a little snark. Kara flinched a little at the tone in voice and as strange as it was to see her own body react like that, the Kryptonian’s reaction gave her a moment’s satisfaction.

“Is it like this for you, all of the time?” Lena asked, “I just feel so… weightless. I can see through you. I can see through me,” she said, holding up her hand and looking at the bones.

“When I came to Earth it was hard…” Kara replied, “I had these powers and didn’t know how to control them yet. You’ll learn, I promise. I did, and I didn’t think I could. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.”

  
“I… I’m sorry, Kara, I know speaking about that time must be hard for you.”

“No, no, I want to tell you. I had lost everything, my friends, my family, everyone and everything I had ever known and loved. And Superman… I was supposed to protect him, he was a baby when he left Krypton but I got… lost along the way in something called the Phantom Zone so when I got here, he was already an adult and he… he wanted nothing to do with me for years. I know he wanted me to have a chance at a normal life but he was the only surviving member of my species and he…” Kara shook her head, clearing her throat a little, “you’ll learn to control your powers, I promise.”

Lena looked at her, a lump in her throat. Kara had suffered so much but she usually had such a cheery disposition, Lena didn’t know how she did it. “I’d hug you, but…”

“It’s okay,” Kara sniffed and walked over to her, wrapping her arms around Lena. “This will do.”

Her phone buzzed. Pete was waiting for them.

They sat in silence in the back of the car as they were driven to the L-Corp lab. Neither of them knowing what to say, what they could say. Eventually, Lena broke the silence, “Kara… is that even your real name?”

“Yes…” her girlfriend nodded, “I didn’t have to change it when I got to Earth but my full name is Kara Zor-El.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Kara Zor-El,” Lena replied, “but I need you to promise me something.”

“Anything, Lena.”

“If you ever try to keep a secret from me again, I will throw you into the sun,” she told her, though she actually managed to laugh as she said it and after a moment, Kara laughed too.

“That’s fair. What about a secret birthday party? What about your Christmas present?”

“I’ll think about it and let you know.” Part of her wanted to stay mad at Kara but she couldn’t it was too hard and no matter what lies and deceptions, she’d committed over the past few years, Kara was the most important part of her life. Her girlfriend was the one truly bright spot in her existence. She would need time, and probably therapy, once they got back to their own bodies but together, the Super and the Luthor would figure things out.

Her good mood faded when they got to the lab. The alien device was gone.


	3. My Hero, With or Without Powers

Kara had told her that, in theory, she didn’t need food as long as she used her body. Whenever she needed a power boost, the sun would do the job, but food – and lots of it – helped keep her energy levels up and since Lena still wasn’t too keen on the whole idea of flying, she had ordered several large pizzas, six Big Belly Burger quarter pounders with fries, and enough potstickers for a small army. There wasn’t a kale leaf in sight. 

Feeling a bit like a traitor, she sat down with the first of many slices of pizza and watched the security footage from the lab with Kara, who, incredibly reluctantly, had conceded that for as long as she was in Lena’s body, she would have to look after it and its human appetite, and had settled for a single small burger and fries. 

She sped up the footage and watched the footage of herself moving about the lab and the shock she’d received from the alien device. It hadn’t hurt, but maybe she had felt differently afterwards… Finally, deciding that she’d get nothing else from the device to go on her date with Kara and the video showed that no sooner had she closed the door than the device had vanished into thin air. 

“Great,” she sighed, now on her second pizza and third burger. “We’re going to have to go to the DEO about this.” 

“I was just thinking that,” Kara agreed, “oh, Rao, Alex is just going to find this hilarious.” 

“Maybe we should call ahead and let her know?” 

“No… I want to see the surprise on her face,” her girlfriend chuckled, her food already gone. It was the first time Lena had ever finished eating after Kara, which felt almost wrong somehow, as if it wasn’t just that they were in different but bodies but that the whole natural order of the universe had been turned on its head. 

Finally, she cleared the last of her own meal and they were driven to the DEO, stepping out of the elevator on the top floor. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use the elevator to get here, Kara,” Alex remarked as she looked up from the control console in the middle of the command centre. 

“There’s a lot of firsts happening today, Alex,” Lena replied, “but Kara using the elevator isn’t one of them. I’m Lena… just in Kara’s body.” 

“And I’m in Lena’s,” Kara supplied helpfully. 

Alex blinked as she looked from one of them to the other. “Wait, you’re serious? So that means…” 

“Yes, I know who Kara is now.” 

By then, J’onn had arrived and opened his wallet, handing a $20 bill to Alex, who pocketed it with a look of smug satisfaction. 

“What was that for?” Kara asked with a small frown. 

“We had a bet on when whether Lena would find out before or after you guys got married. I said before, J’onn said on your wedding night.” 

J’onn looked at them both, frowning. His Martian telepathy abilities were almost completely blocked by Kara’s Kryptonian psychology but now her mind was like an open book to him, while Lena’s was closed off, impenetrable. “They’ve definitely switched,” he said gruffly, “I’m getting nothing from Lena at all.”

“What about me?” Kara asked curiously. 

“You’re mostly thinking about whether this means you’ll have to eat a salad and how good you look in Lena’s body.” 

“You think I look good?” Lena said brightly as Kara groaned, a blush colouring her pale skin as she leaned over and gave her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. 

"You always look good, Lena," Kara's blush turned red as her cape.

"I feel the same way about you, you know," Lena took a moment to grin at her girlfriend's adorableness before quickly explaining her theory about the alien device being responsible and the fact that it had disappeared. “I know you didn’t have much look when the DEO’s scientists looked at it but have you guys ever heard of anything like this happening?” 

J’onn nodded slowly, “there is an old legend about –” 

He was cut off as alarms started to blare around the DEO and Alex tapped a few buttons on her screen. “We’re detecting a major energy build-up near the airport. Kara… Lena! Are you ready to help us?” 

“What?” Lena’s face fell and she shook her head, backing away and breaking what she hoped just a toy and not an expensive piece of equipment. “No, no, no. I’m a Luthor. No. I can’t. No one wants a Luthor hero.” 

Kara walked up to her, cupping Lena’s cheeks in her hands and pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “You are my hero, Lena Luthor, even with or without powers. I know you can do this. We’ll use comms links so I can talk to you while you’re out there and if it gets too much, if it’s dangerous or scary, just reach out and listen to my heartbeat. Listening to yours has helped me out of countless situations. You help me save the world, now it’s my turn to help you.” 

Looking at her girlfriend, at the utter believe in Lena that Kara was expressing, she exhaled deeply and nodded. “Okay… okay. Let’s do it.”


	4. If Kara Can Do It, So Can I

“Will it hurt if I fall and hit the ground?” Lena asked, looking down nervously from the edge of the DEO balcony. It was a long way down. This had been a mistake, who was she to think she could be a hero just because she had powers now? It was Kara’s personality and bravery that made her girlfriend the Champion of Earth as much as her powers. 

“You’ll be fine, the ground won’t be,” Kara assured with a small smile.

“Try not to break anything,” Alex remarked drily, “the city keeps sending us invoices to fix things Kara smashes.” 

“What, really?” the blonde asked, “you never told me that!” 

“The city’s infrastructure doesn’t fix itself and you do seem to attract a lot of damages,” she shrugged slightly. 

“This is getting nowhere,” J’onn remarked and pushed Lena off the balcony. 

“Lena!” Kara screamed as the Luthor tumbled off the building and closed her eyes. The wind buffeted her as she fell, the ground rising quickly up to meet here and then… she opened her eyes and grinned. She had stopped about fifty feet above the sidewalk and shot back up with a grin on her face. 

“J’onn, thank you, I probably needed that, but never push me off a building again.” 

“Duly noted,” the Martian replied, seemingly amused. 

She floated over and gave Kara a hug. “You’ve got this, I know it,” the reporter told her and handed out a comm link, which Lena slipped on over her ear. “Use this if you need help.” 

“I will, I promise,” Lena told her and took off, flying towards the airport. She had always hated flying, irrational as it was. Flying was one of the safest ways to travel, but it hadn’t been until Kara had held her in her arms that she’d felt truly safe in the air and now here she was, flying over National City all by herself. It was remarkable how quickly her brain was adjusting to process the world changing so rapidly beneath and despite her incredible speed, she saw everything in minute detail on the ground below. She wasn’t overwhelmed, far from it, it was an invigorating, awe inspiring way to see the world. If not for the threat at the airport, she might just flew around the world and kept going, shooting off into space to see Earth as only Kara, Kal, and astronauts had. 

All too soon, she landed at National City International Airport and found chaos all around her. There was a strange shifting blue form on the runway… some kind of pure energy or an alien? “Kara, what should I do?” she asked, tapping her comm link. 

“I’m not sure,” her girlfriend replied, “try blasting it with heat vision!” 

Lena landed before the alien, drawing its attention away from the airport police valiantly but vainly trying to stop it. She focused, narrowing her eyes and unleashed a blast of heat vision. The entity glowed red for a moment and increased in size, shifting to move towards her. “I think that just made it angry!” 

She moved down the runway, away from the terminal buildings to draw the entity away from the police and anyone else who might have been unlucky enough to get in the way. Looking up, she heard the roar of a jumbo jet’s engines. “Kara, why the hell are there still planes landing here!?” 

There was a moment’s silence before her girlfriend answered, “it has to land, it’s nearly out of fuel!” 

The entity was still coming towards her but there was time. Kara had first revealed herself to the world by carrying a plane over a bridge and now she was in Kara’s body, which meant she could do it too. She launched herself skyward, “Kara, can you patch through to the pilots and tell them not to panic?” 

“On it!” 

Lena flew under the plane and took hold of it. A jumbo jet at its maximum safe weight comes in at 970,000 lb but as Lena grabbed the plane, it seemed not much heavier than a paperback book might have been if she was still human. She turned the plane in mid-air and guided it away from the airport, there was a stretch of freeway under construction nearby and Lena quickly analysed the stretch of road, judging it to be wide enough. She flew down with the plane, ignoring the screams coming inside. 

“You can do this, Lena,” Kara chimed in. She didn’t answer but her girlfriend’s confidence was enough to reassure her as she lined up the jet with the road and put it down gently. The grin on her face was euphoric but it didn’t last. There was a power surge back on the runway and she super speeded back. By now, the alien had latched itself onto a power cable and was guzzling energy from it.

Thinking for a moment, she shot a torrent of frost breath at the cable and then doused the entity itself with icy cold. It seemed to be ineffective but then, the energy force itself started to freeze and collapsed on the ground. She landed on the runway, keeping watch as DEO vans pulled up and took it away. 

“Oh my sweet Rao, I knew you could do it! You’re a hero, Lena Luthor!” Kara chimed in her ear and she could hear the delight in her girlfriend’s voice, that along made it all worthwhile.


	5. For the Future

Kara could not do ‘it’. 

It being sitting through a boardroom meeting while in the body of her girlfriend, Lena Luthor. When she had her powers she could fly into the sun and come out unharmed or move a million tonne spaceship without too much difficulty. But she didn’t have her powers and Kara Danvers the journalist was right out of her element pretending to be the Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest companies on the planet.

She had very nearly toppled out of her heels more than once on the way to the room at the top of the L-Corp building, smiling and nodding to employees she didn’t know. 

Lena had given her an expansive briefing document on the state of L-Corp’s financials, its ongoing research projects, its main competitors, and a crash course in business terminology and strategy. On Krypton, she had been the youngest ever member of the Science Guild. Her mind processed facts at a phenomenal rate and she could outthink every AI on Earth combined but it had, somehow, all been a bit much for her. 

“You’re rescue me if I throw myself off the balcony, won’t you?” she asked into her earpiece. 

“Now I know how you feel about me,” Lena replied, “and yes, of course, I’d catch you, but please don’t jump off any buildings until you have your powers back.”

“I could probably put together a parachute pretty quickly…”

“Kara.” 

“I’d just have to calculate wind velocity and direction to make sure I landed somewhere safely.” 

“Kara!” 

“Fine,” she took a deep breath, “fine. No jumping off buildings. Unless I really have to get out of here.” Before Lena could respond, the door opened and Jess walked in, taking her seat at the other end of the table to record the minutes. 

“Are the others here yet?” 

“They’re on their way up, Miss Luthor,” her assistant replied. 

She was sweating now. Is this what it was like for Lena? Kara had always respected her, which was why it had been so hard to keep the truth from her. Partly, it had been because she wanted to have Lena see her as just Kara, but it had also been because J’onn and even Alex had cautioned her against it. It was silly and sexist. They were judging Lena for the actions of her family when Winn’s dad had killed children and Mon-El’s had been slave owning despots. They were both in the future now, being heroes, something she had never thought the prince of Daxam was capable of (when he had invaded her life and she’d reluctantly allowed him to sleep on her couch because no one else wanted him, Kara never thought he might one day care about anyone but himself). No one had believed they should be under suspicion. But Lena? It was a double standard and it had infuriated her, but mostly, she was angry at herself for going along with it for so long. 

And somehow, that incredibly kind and generous woman that she had fallen in love had almost, but not quite, forgiven her. She owed Lena everything and no matter what happened, she would spend the rest of her life repaying the Luthor’s kindness. 

After a few moments, the board members began to file in. Many were Lex loyalists, left over from the days before Lena and still looking to undermine her at every turn but her girlfriend had appointed a few younger more diverse faces to the board. She knew there were rivalries between the factions, Lena had told her all of their dirty and not so dirty little secrets. 

Once the agenda had been read out and agreed, they got down to business.

“It’s too expensive,” James Smyth said from the other end of the table, “investing billions in a clean energy project is a great idea… for our grandkids, we have to look after our shareholders today.”  
There was something about his tone Kara didn’t like and she knew all too well the cost of ignoring climate science and pursuing energy from dangerous sources. 

“I mean sure, it’ll do us some good press and go down well with coastal liberals but our first priority has got to be our bottom line or why are we even in business?” 

She had served as Cat Grant’s personal assistant for years and all of her former mentor’s lessons came back to her. A woman has to work twice as hard to be taken half as seriously. But it was a quote of Lena’s that stuck in her head most as she replied, “I’ve never stood behind a man.” 

“Have you seen what will happen to National City if the ice caps melt? You’re going to need a boat to get to this building, James. Now I don’t have children, I certainly don’t have grandchildren,” Kara replied, her didn’t raise her voice but her anger was clear. “You do, though, don’t you? Little Sammy? Would you have said that if he was here now? That you were trading his future so you can earn a bit more money you don’t need and have it rest in a bank account accumulating interest while people are homeless, while they can’t afford food for their kids?” 

“I hardly think –”

“There are some things a bigger yacht won’t compensate for,” she interrupted him, drawing a chuckle from around the tables (if mostly from the women), “but you can spend your money how you want. As long as I am CEO of this company, though, we’re going to invest it in making the world a better place to be. The energy project goes ahead.”

In the end, the board had a vote. It passed 11-3. 

“That was brilliant, Kara,” Lena told her through the ear piece. “I might have to watch my back if you ever set your sights on climbing the corporate ladder.” 

“I’m happy where I am, Lena,” she replied but she was grinning as she walked to Lena’s office. 

“Don’t be so sure, CatCo needs a new editor-in-chief.”


	6. A Super and a Luthor, a Journalist and a Scientist

“You can’t do that, Lena!” Kara protested when she got back to the DEO after the board meeting. 

“Why not?” she shrugged, “I own CatCo, I can name its editor-in-chief as anyone I like. It just so happens that I like you.” Lena pressed a kiss to Kara’s cheek and took her hand in her own, “if you really don’t want it, I won’t go through with it but you’re an incredibly talented writer who knows the media game better than anyone and you were Cat Grant’s assistant for years, she was practically grooming you to take over one day. I want that day to be soon. Just promise me you’ll think about it?”

“I’ll think about it,” her girlfriend replied with a nod. 

They were sitting in a lab that they’d been given to use, a DEO supercomputer analysing their bloodwork and brain scans. Now that they finally had a moment to rest, the two of them had sat down to figure out how to get back into their own bodies. As much as she’d quickly become used to using Kara’s powers, there was still a part of Lena that didn’t feel right. Even though the change had been something beyond their control, it was like she was invading her girlfriend’s body and she felt uneasy about the whole experience. 

The alien device that had caused the swap was still nowhere to be found and it seemed that, for now at least, if they wanted to fix this, they would have do so on their own. 

She had expected Kara to simply be there for moral support but her girlfriend had surprised her by putting on a lab coat and getting to work right alongside her. Kara was brilliant too, her mind filled to the brim with concepts far beyond anything Lena might have come up and she talked in formulas and equations that would have won her Fields Medals and Noble Prizes if anyone knew what she was capable of. 

“If editor-in-chief doesn’t appeal to you, I might just steal you for L-Corp’s R&D division,” she chuckled as she watched Kara work. “All this time when I’ve been talking about scientific concepts and you pretended not to understand you knew exactly what I was talking about, didn’t you?” 

Kara, to her credit, looked suitably abashed and nodded as she answered, “yes, I know, but Kara Danvers is a journalist, not a scientist.” 

“And Kara Zor-El?” 

“I was the youngest ever member of the Science Guild on Krypton,” her girlfriend replied with a note of pride in her voice. “And I love my job, Lena, telling the truth is important to me and the thing is…”   
“Yes?” she asked, looking up from the results of the brain scans. 

“Krypton was destroyed by the pursuit of energy. What if Earth isn’t ready for our technology? What if… if it ends up the same way?” 

“I don’t think that will happen,” Lena replied, “but Earth has you, and Supergirl will always save us, whether we deserve it or not.” 

Kara smiled and leaned over, pressing a kiss to Lena’s lips. “Earth has Supergirl but it also has Lena Luthor, and I trust you more than anything. I promised there wouldn’t be any more secrets and I do miss science. So… I’ll put aside a few hours a week for lab work, with you, and maybe we can save the world in other ways.” 

“I’d like that,” Lena grinned. The prospect of working with Kara, of bouncing ideas off a member of the Science Guild, of just being with her girlfriend regularly in that environment, was enough to send a thrill through her. 

“Hmm…” Kara frowned slightly as she examined the scan results. “If I’m right about this, it seems the body swap is changing your psychology and biology in potentially permanent ways.” 

“What are you saying, Kara?” 

“It’s making you… Kryptonian,” Kara breathed, her eyes wide, “if… when, we switch back to our own bodies, you’re going to have powers, Lena.” 

“If I can be a Super and a Luthor, you can be a journalist and a scientist, Kara,” Lena told her, her mind trying to process the fact that she really would be a Luthor with a Kryptonian’s powers. It was absurd, people would never accept it. She wasn’t sure if she was capable of accepting it.

Kara hugged her tight, as tight as she could in Lena’s body, and nodded, “we make each other better, Lena, I truly do believe that. So yeah… maybe I can have it all but you can too. I know what you’re thinking, you don’t think the world will welcome a Luthor with my powers. I wish people could see you the way I do, as a hero and a wonderful, kind person, but it doesn’t matter, because that’s how I see you. You don’t have to wear a cape to be a hero, Lena, you already are one. And no matter whether you choose to use your powers or not, you’re always going to be my hero and the love of my life.”   
She brushed aside a tear that swelled in her eyes and kissed Kara again. "Khap zhao rrip, Kara-te."

The Kryptonian gasped, her eyes going wide as she heard the words for ‘I love you’ uttered in her native language and she hugged her again fiercely. “When… how…?” 

“I asked Alex to let me access the DEO data file on Kryptonese and had some of Lex’s old journals. I was able to put two and two together,” she smiled softly as she held Kara close, listening to the steady beating of her heart. “I was going to wait to say them when I asked you to marry me but I couldn’t resist.” 

“Khap zhao rrip, Lena-te,” Kara grinned and kissed her for a long moment, “and the answer’s yes.”

“What?” 

“Yes, I will marry you.”


	7. Argo City Express via Midvale

She had flown to Midvale to speak to Eliza about marrying Kara. The doctor finding the body swap hilarious more than anything but she knew the shenanigans her adoptive daughter could get up to and she soon gave Lena her consent. 

“I’m glad Alex won the bet, by the way, about when you’d find out Kara was Supergirl.” 

“You were in on it too?” she blinked.

“Of course,” Eliza chuckled as she sipped from a glass of iced tea, “we’ve all seen how you two look at each other. Honestly, with all the lip biting and open mouth staring I would think it was obvious to anyone that you two were in love. So yes, you can marry Kara but treat her well, Lena Luthor, she’s already given you her whole heart.”

A little flustered but very much relieved, Lena returned to National City but Kara had two mothers and she wasn’t done yet. The idea to go to Argo City had been Kara’s, she felt that there might be something in the Kryptonian archives that could shed some light on the body swap process and how long it might last or how it might be reversed if they didn’t swap back naturally. 

Kara was on her phone as Lena landed, pretending to be the CEO as she told Jess to cancel her appointments for the next two days as she’d be travelling. Lena smiled as she watched her, whatever Lena might have thought about her own abilities to take charge as ‘just’ Kara, she had begun to settle into the role remarkably well. CatCo would be in good hands if she took Lena up on the offer to take charge but Lena had always known that, even before she’d known the truth about who Kara really was. 

When the call was over, Lena wrapped her arms around Kara and kissed her for a moment. “Are you ready, my love?” 

“I’m ready,” Kara smiled and took hold of Lena’s hand, the two of them walking up to the portal to Argo City and stepping through. She had been told that she wouldn’t have her powers there but it was still a bit of a shock when she stepped through her world shrunk down to just what she could see in front of her. She could no longer hear Kara’s heartbeat and everything felt heavier than it should.   
Lena took a step forward and stumbled, Kara catching her before she fell. “It’s okay, I’ve got you. There was a solar flare a few years ago. Being human was /awful/,” she teased. 

“You’re human right now.” 

“In your body, but I’ve never held being human against you,” Kara laughed and helped Lena steady herself before they began to walk through the city.

Lena looked around in awe at the soaring towers and glistening public artworks. People nodded to her as they passed and, remembering she still looked like Kara, waved and nodded in response. Eventually, they came to the Science Guild building and headed inside, the archives were in the basement (it seemed some things were the same for every species) and she followed Kara downstairs. While her girlfriend hadn’t been there in decades and the facility was a maze, she walked the halls confidently and they soon arrived at their destination, a room that housed tens of thousands of memory crystals. 

Each crystals stored one exbibyte of data, infinitely more than the entire sum of the internet on Earth and more knowledge that humanity had ever possessed. While Lena had never truly believed in a higher power, she felt almost as if she stood in a sacred place now as Kara searched through the crystals to find the one she needed. 

Slotting it into a console, her girlfriend began to pull up the files on any previously recorded incident of body swaps, how they had happened, and if or how they had been reversed. 

“Kelex,” she called out to the floating archivist robot, “please translate this into the Earth language English.”

Kelex beeped and the screen flickered, allowing Lena to read what came up on the display. “Thank you, Kara and Kelex,” she said as she stepped forward and began to go through the information that came up. “Well that’s interesting…” she said as she scrolled down, “look, here it talks about ‘Love Spheres’ and says…” 

“They’re Kryptonian,” Kara breathed, blinking in surprise.


	8. Walking a Mile in Someone Else's Shoes

“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of them,” Alura replied as they sat in the gardens of the Royal House of El drinking a beverage much like tea. “Love Spheres were created during an obscure period of our history. When birthing pods and the Oracle were first introduced as a means of bringing order to our lives and matching us with suitable partners there were some… irregularities. 

“People were matched with those they were incompatible with. Instead of order, some of these relationships brought only chaos and children who were deeply… conflicted about the nature of their role in society.” 

“But how do the Love Spheres fit into this?” Kara asked her mom, frowning slightly as she registered the fact that things were not as straightforward as she had always believed and the transition from biological births to the society she had grown up hadn’t been the easy one most histories described.

“What’s that charming human expression? Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes?” she replied. 

“Yes, that’s it,” Lena nodded. 

“The Love Spheres were intended to allow a couple who had been matched by the early Oracle to experience what life was like for their partner. Quite literally. Of course, it was only ever used on Kryptonians, so perhaps it’s not so surprising that in your case, there have been unintended consequences, Lena.” 

“My powers?” 

“Yes, it would seem that certain biological markers remain even after the transition ends. Which, I would say should come any day now, the change never last longer than the equivalent of a fortnight on Earth.” 

Lena took Kara’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You really don’t mind me having powers?” 

“No, Lena,” Kara shook her head, as she interlocked their fingers, “I’m glad. I… I didn’t want to lose you to old age or disease, at least not for a very very long time. This way, we can be together, whatever happens.” 

“Good,” Alura replied with a soft smile, “you are a most beautiful couple and I have never seen two people so clearly in love with each other. Even without the Love Sphere, I’m sure you would have been quite happily together for a very long time.”

“But why did the device just disappear? How did it end up on Earth in the first place?” 

“Oh, I’d say it simply ended up on Earth among the debris that made it there from Krypton and they always returned to their storage unit when their work was done. It’s probably floating in space in the Rao system as we speak.” 

They spoke for hours, long after their tea was finished, but eventually Lena had Alura to herself. Kara’s mother took out a small box and opened it as she handed it to Lena. 

“This is a bond that marks the union between two people on Krypton,” she told her as Lena examined the delicate material. “And you can be sure that Kara has made one for you or she will. This one belonged to Zor, my husband, but it would please me greatly if you gave it to my little ukiem.” 

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Lena replied, looking at the bond with the House of El crest at the centre and hugged Alura tightly, “thank you, thank you so much.” 

“You need only say one thing, Lena Luthor, I believe humans end their wedding ceremonies with the words ‘I do’,” the Kryptonian smiled as she returned Lena’s embrace, “I have heard my daughter speak fondly of you so many times I’m surprised it has taken so long but I will be glad to welcome you to the House of El.”

Scarcely able to contain herself, she left Alura and headed to Kara’s old room, where she found her sitting on the bed with a soft smile on her lips. As she entered, Kara looked up and walked over to her, pressing a kiss to Lena’s lips before taking her hand and walking her out to the balcony. They could see the whole city from there but she only had eyes for Kara, who was clearly nervous about something. 

Letting go of her, Kara cleared her throat, and reached into her pocket as she got down on one knee. “I know I said I’d marry you but that wasn’t a proper proposal, so let me do it now. Lena-te, you are the love of my life, the person I care about more than any other, will you do the honour of marrying me? I had this ring fit for my… your hand,” she replied, “but I think it will fit.” 

Inside the box was a simple gold band with a blue diamond and a bond, “Kara, nothing would make me happier than marrying you.” She drew her new fiancée into a kiss as Kara slipped the ring onto her finger and they both shed tears of pure joy. “This is a –”

“A bond,” Lena replied with a smile, opening up the box Alura had given her, “your mother explained them to me.” The bonds were placed around each other’s wrists and they shared another kiss. As Lena closed her eyes and their lips met, she felt a spark and when she opened them again, Kara – in Kara’s own body – was looking back at her.


	9. Epilogue: One Month Later

Kara Danvers, Editor-in-Chief of CatCo Worldwide Media, sat down at her desk with a smile and remembered standing in the same office, on the other side of the desk, as she debated with Cat Grant why it was Supergirl and not Superwoman. 

Now, she was Cat, and that meant she had the power to influence public discourse in myriad ways. Firing up her computer, she began to write. 

“This morning, National City – and the world – was introduced to a new hero. For years, we have known of the existence of first Superman and then Supergirl and this new force for good (and there should be no cause for doubt that she is a force for good) will be sure to continue in their footstep, even if that means soaring through the clouds above us. 

“Truth, Justice, and the American Way. 

“Hope, Help, and Compassion for All. 

“These are the slogans of Earth’s defenders, who were born on Krypton but choose Earth every time. As news of the deeds of this new hero spread and she continues to make this world a better place, she too will have a slogan that reflects on what it means to hold so much power but to use it for the good of all.

“The challenges she faces will be great. There will be times when she faces seemingly insurmountable odds but if we believe in her – as National City already believes in Supergirl – there can be no doubt that she will succeed in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. 

“For now, we can take solace in the fact that as we look to the sky, there is another hero for keeping us safe. 

“So thank you, Superwoman, from all of us.”

She hit 'Publish' on the blog post and walked to the balcony, peering over the rim of her glasses to the distance where her fiancee was flying high above and, making sure no one was watching, Kara launched herself into the air to join Lena so that together, Supergirl and Superwoman could bring hope to the world.


End file.
